'Economic Uncertainty' Fund Managers' Cash Holdings Reach Highest Level Since 9/11 Terror Attacks

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] As concerns about a global economic recession grow, fund managers' cash holdings have surged to the highest level since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Bloomberg reported on the 17th (local time).

According to a monthly survey conducted by Bank of America (BOA) targeting fund managers, the cash ratio in fund managers' assets under management stood at 6.1% as of April. This is an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the March survey, marking the highest level since September 2011.

BOA surveyed 288 fund managers, whose combined assets under management total $872 billion (approximately 1,106.6552 trillion KRW).

Among the fund managers, 77% responded that they expect stagflation to occur within the next 12 months. This is an 11 percentage point increase from the March survey and the highest since 2008.

Fund managers cited the hawkish shift in central banks' monetary policy as the greatest economic risk, followed by a global economic recession.

Amid bleak economic forecasts, the MSCI World Index has fallen about 17% this year. However, fund managers anticipate further declines.

Michael Hartnett, investment strategist at BOA, explained, "Since the Fed is expected to raise the benchmark interest rate further, stock prices have not yet reached the bottom."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.